Recca wrote:
Here's a picture of the four main characters that I've found in the game's manual on a Japanese website (sara-net.jp):
Attachment:
Shinseiki Odysselya characters.jpg
And here's some links to a review of this game (by the same person):
https://superfamicomrpgs.blogspot.com/2018/06/game-26-shinseiki-odysselya-review.htmlhttps://superfamicomrpgs.blogspot.com/2018/06/game-26-shinseiki-odysselya.htmlhttps://superfamicomrpgs.blogspot.com/2018/06/game-26-shinseiki-odysselya-part-2.htmlAnd of course, an image of the four main characters from the second title can be found on the game's front cover art here:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/snes/581864-shinseiki-odysselya-2/images/121405You can really find out a lot more information about these games if you search for them using their original Japanese name. In this case, this game is called 神聖紀オデッセリア (Shinseiki Odysselya). I used the same method for finding the manual picture of the four characters from Power of the Hired (man, a lot of games seem to have four main charatcers). You can all give this a try. Just look at Wikipedia for any game's name in Japanese.
I found the superfamicomrpgs.blogspot.com post by Kurisu very helpful. Unfortunately, I didn't see these until I had the story 95% translated and written. So, based on what I understood after I translated the final string in Block19, I went back and tweaked a few places, all the way back to Block01.
Then, I read Kurisu's interpretation of the story, from his playing the game in Japanese and obviously having a much better command of the language than I. This comment in his blog was all-revealing:
"So there's obviously a lot more to the story than the outline I gave here -- at times I had a hard time following it, partly because it's in all hiragana and I'm sometimes too lazy to look up words I don't know. But there may have been some moderate incoherence to the plot itself. Overall it was pretty good, though. I think this has possibly the most dialogue of any of the games I've played up to this point[...]"
There! A fairly adept bi-lingualist also had trouble untangling the story. This may be why the Nintendo translation was called "bad", but I believe one of the reasons the commercial product was scrapped also has to do with the many R-Rated scenes and graphics in the game. I, of course, portrayed all of those accurately, so any prudes out there, be forewarned!
While my first draft English script contained a heavy sense of mystery, I clarified meanings of previous events as I plunged deeper into the tale. Frequently, I backtracked and rewrote those earlier scenes more cogently. Re-translations assisted in this process. Often, I would thump my head and exclaim, "Gee, why didn't I glean that possible reading the first time!?" Hindsight sometimes clears muddled visions flawlessly. Nevertheless, even my best readings that fit the story flow well relentlessly conveyed an air of mystery throughout. I find this to be a big factor in the game's charm, for indeed, this is one of the best games I have ever played (read: story).
The main character is female (the heroine). Her confusion about who she is, where she came from, and what her purpose is pervades most of the saga - to the point I would call that issue the main central metaphor. A close second is the history of her primary traveling companion and protector, but questions about the protector get answered fairly early in the game. The key factors that muddle the game are time travel, reincarnation, immortal beings, and the fact that some characters change names and appearances to suit the writer's plot in different times and places in the tale.
Finally, the long ending sets the tone for Odysselya-II perfectly. I now know where the main heroine came from and what her purpose was. I also know her role in Odysselya-II because I have already translated and written the sequel. With all of the "Benedict Arnold" type characters in Odysselya-I's story, only the heroine and a handful of others remain resolute to the cause of righteousness. After all, these are tales of a sacred age!